Hyderabad, September 23: City police have so far identified 15 persons responsible for circulation of provocative SMSes ahead of the September 24 Allahabad High Court verdict on the Babri Masjid-Ram Mandir issue. Several SMSes of provocative nature were doing rounds which might create communal tension, according to police.
“We have identified 15 persons responsible for circulation of messages and they belong to both communal groups. We are waiting to gather more evidence against them and taking the help of service providers for this,” city police commissioner AK Khan told reporters on Wednesday night. The SMSes were tracked and analysed and given to cyber crime police for identifying their origin. Khan, however, refused to reveal the origin of these messages.
“We will trace out the origin of these SMSes and also those who actively circulated them,’’ Khan said.
Khan said provocative messages had also been circulated during the March riots and eight persons were identified then. However, investigation against majority of them had been stalled for want of evidence. “This time we are taking the help of service providers. We have a cyber police station with skilled policemen to deal with such cases,” he said. Ahead of the court verdict, Khan said they would hold negotiations with religious heads of both groups as they can make an impact on the general public. Khan said the strong force of 25,000-odd policemen and officers who are on Ganesh immersion duty would be made available for the next three days. The force would also be used for taking preventive action on September 23.
He stated that any political party or religious organisation has the option to approach the Supreme Court and the verdict of the High Court is not the final one. I appeal to the people to maintain calm and peace,” he added. On alleged provocative speeches made by some Acharya from Ayodhya during the festival, Khan said they have recorded the speeches. “Officers and sleuths of the Special Branch are analysing the speeches. If they are found to be provocative, we will take action,’’ he said. The commissioner said some pandal organisers were also found playing provocative songs during the procession. He added that if they are found violating the law, action would be taken against them.
Khan welcomed the decision of the Home ministry to block bulk SMSes for the next 72 hours and said city police also held discussions with service providers to stop bulk messages and even stop messages which have some key words. On the peaceful conduct of Ganesh immersion procession, Khan thanked the people for maintaining peace. “A set of efficient police officers, cooperation from the government and pandal organisers made this possible,” he said. Khan made a special mention of the efforts of 1,200-odd trainee sub-inspectors from the Andhra Pradesh Police Academy (APPA) and policemen from other districts in peaceful conduct of the immersion procession.
–Agencies